Setup eTimeOffice

Always start from a trusted source: your Odoo partner, Webbycrown Solutions, or the official Odoo Apps store entry for this product. You should receive a .zip archive or a folder that contains the technical module folder (its name often looks like etimeoffice_integration_17 or similar-your supplier will tell you the exact folder name).

Save the file somewhere easy to find on the machine you use to manage the server, and keep a backup copy in a safe place. If you are not sure which download is “latest,” ask your vendor for the version that matches your Odoo number (for example Odoo 17) before you continue.

Your Odoo installation is configured to read one or more addons paths. Very often there is a shared folder called addons plus a separate custom_addons (or extra-addons) folder for your own modules. The eTimeOffice package should live inside that path as its own folder-not nested twice, and not left inside the zip file.

If you use managed hosting, you may upload through SFTP, a file manager in the control panel, or a ticket to support-follow your host’s instructions. If you are on your own Linux server, your administrator copies the unzipped module directory next to other third-party modules. When in doubt, ask “Which directory is on the addons_path in our Odoo config?” and place the module there.

After new files appear on disk, Odoo needs a restart so it scans the addons paths again and registers the new module. How you restart depends on your setup: a button in PaaS hosting, systemctl restart odoo on a Linux box, or a support ticket that says “please restart Odoo after we uploaded a new custom module.”

Plan a quiet moment if you can: restarts briefly interrupt anyone who is logged in. This step is normal and expected; skipping it is the most common reason “I copied the files but Odoo still cannot find the app.”

Open Odoo in your browser and sign in as an administrator. Go to Settings (the main settings app, usually with a gear icon). Scroll to the bottom of the page and find the link to Activate the developer mode (wording can vary slightly by Odoo version). Click it once.

Developer mode unlocks extra technical menus that normal day-to-day users never need. For installation you only need it so you can run Update Apps List in the next step. You may turn developer mode off again later if your policy prefers a tidy menu, but many teams leave it on in a test database and off in production-follow your IT policy.

Open the Apps menu (sometimes labelled Applications). Switch the view so you see Update Apps List-with developer mode on, Odoo shows this option so the server re-reads every module’s description file from disk.

Confirm the update and wait until Odoo finishes. If an error appears, copy the message for your partner; it usually means a typo in the folder name, a permission problem on the server, or the module was placed outside the configured addons path.

Still under Apps, remove the “Apps” filter if you only see a short list, then search for eTimeOffice or the exact technical name your vendor gave you. Open the card and click Install (or Activate, depending on version).

Wait until the progress completes. You should not need to install Python packages yourself on standard Odoo hosting; the module declares that it needs the requests library, which is already present on most servers. If the install fails mentioning requests, forward the log to your host so they can install that dependency once for the whole server.

Some Odoo applications tick a box during install to load demonstration data-sample customers, products, or attendance rows so you can click around safely. The eTimeOffice integration is normally used with your real company data from eTimeOffice, so many deployments do not ship heavy demo content.

If your installer screen offers a demo-data option, read it carefully before you agree. If no demo data appears after install, that is expected: you will build real data the first time sync runs and when you link employees.

Installing the app does not automatically give every user the new menus. Go to Settings → Users & Companies → Users, open each person who should manage the integration, open the Access Rights tab (or Odoo Enterprise equivalent), and assign at least one of these:

• eTimeOffice Administrator: for HR or IT staff who will enter API credentials, run sync, open logs, and manage user links.
• eTimeOffice User: for employees who only need read-only My Attendance after their login is tied to an employee record.

Click Save on each user record after you change groups. People who receive no new group will simply never see the eTimeOffice menus-that is normal until you grant access on purpose.

Ask each affected person to press F5 or use their browser’s refresh button, or to sign out and sign back in. They should now see eTimeOffice in the main app switcher (administrators) or My Attendance (regular users), depending on what you granted.

If a user still sees nothing, double-check that their browser really refreshed, that you saved their user form, and that their account is not a portal-only user when your policy expects internal staff. When everything looks right, continue with the chapter First day after install to connect credentials and run your first test.

The link at the bottom of the main Settings page. It does not change your business data by itself; it reveals technical menus such as Update Apps List. Turn it on for installation, then follow your policy about leaving it on.

Safe to run more than once; it rescans disk so new folders appear in the Apps screen. It can take a minute on large databases.

Different Odoo versions label the button differently, but both mean “add this module to the database now.”

The tab on each user where you tick security groups. eTimeOffice Administrator and eTimeOffice User live here alongside your other HR and technical groups.